Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd Boosts Holdings in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd lifted its holdings in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 16,801.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 39,550 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 39,316 shares during the period. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd’s holdings in Kroger were worth $2,419,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of KR. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Kroger in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. TCTC Holdings LLC purchased a new position in shares of Kroger in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Kroger in the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Adirondack Trust Co. lifted its stake in shares of Kroger by 1,628.1% in the fourth quarter. Adirondack Trust Co. now owns 553 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 521 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new position in shares of Kroger in the fourth quarter worth about $39,000. 80.93% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Kroger news, SVP Yael Cosset sold 115,149 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.08, for a total value of $7,839,343.92. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 139,338 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,486,131.04. This represents a 45.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 28,105 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.62, for a total transaction of $1,872,355.10. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 52,861 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,521,599.82. This represents a 34.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 196,285 shares of company stock valued at $13,234,959 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Kroger Price Performance

Kroger stock opened at $65.46 on Thursday. The Kroger Co. has a 1 year low of $49.04 and a 1 year high of $68.51. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $63.13 and its 200-day simple moving average is $59.74. The company has a market capitalization of $47.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.54.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The company reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.09 by $0.05. Kroger had a net margin of 1.85% and a return on equity of 27.73%. The firm had revenue of $34.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.96 billion. As a group, equities research analysts expect that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Kroger announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Wednesday, December 11th that permits the company to repurchase $7.50 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 16.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.96%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. Kroger’s payout ratio is currently 34.88%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on KR shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Kroger from $71.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Kroger from $73.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Kroger from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Roth Capital set a $58.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Kroger from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $66.88.

About Kroger

The Kroger Co operates as a food and drug retailer in the United States. The company operates combination food and drug stores, multi-department stores, marketplace stores, and price impact warehouses. Its combination food and drug stores offer natural food and organic sections, pharmacies, general merchandise, pet centers, fresh seafood, and organic produce; and multi-department stores provide apparel, home fashion and furnishings, outdoor living, electronics, automotive products, and toys.